Bernard D. Rostker

Bernard D. Rostker
Bernard D. Rostker
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
In office 23 May 2000 – June 2001

Bernard Daniel Rostker (born February 1, 1944) was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from 1977 to 1979; Director of the United States Selective Service System from 1979 to 1981; Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from 1994 to 1998; Under Secretary of the Army from 1998 to 2000; and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in 2000-2001. From 1996 to 2001, he also served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses.

Bernard D. Rostker was educated at New York University, receiving a B.S. in 1964. While in college, he participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate and being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve. He next attended Syracuse University, earning an M.A. and then a Ph.D. in Economics.

In 1968, he joined the Manpower Requirements Directorate of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis as an economist. Two years later, he joined RAND as a research economist, becoming Program Director of the Manpower Personnel and Training Program, a program sponsored by the United States Air Force.